Hayley Westenra - Celtic Treasures - Music & Performance - CD

New Zealand classical singer Hayley Westenra got her start at the age of six, when a very adept teacher discovered the youngster had perfect pitch and chose her for the lead singing part in The Littlest Star. By the time she was sixteen the now twenty year-old was a platinum artist performing for world dignitaries like the Queen, George W. Bush, and Tony Blair.

Westenra's international debut Pure sold more than two million copies worldwide (it is also the best-selling album of all-time in New Zealand, where it has been certified twelve times platinum). On her latest release, Celtic Treasure, Westenra splits her voice between traditional numbers and new compositions, three of which she had a hand in writing. The 13-track disc is awash in the singer's Celtic roots (her family tree has branches in Ireland). Lush string sections, pianos, fiddles, and whistles provide a soft cushion for Westenra's virginal vocals.

From the first notes of "Let Me Lie" Westenra's voice captures the listener with its stunning purity. Strings swell behind the singer as she allows her voice to rise and fall effortlessly. Westenra rides the string section like a jockey rides a million dollar racehorse. The New York Times says that Westenra has "the voice of an angel;" one listen to the Christchurch native's celestial reading of "Scarborough Fair" leaves no doubt. Westenra sings the song like it was penned all those years ago for her voice alone.

The album's first three tracks stick to the soft production and traditional sounds, but Westenra bursts out of her classical shell briefly for the springy "Summer Fly." The song begins with Celtic whistles and lightly fingered acoustic guitars but erupts (well, erupt might be pushing it) into a fast moving number. Westenra's voice, even though it skirts the topside of the human vocal register, is candy to the ears. The singer's control and delivery are absolutely breathtaking. Canadian fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster adds her fiery finger work to the track.

Classics like the subdued "Danny Boy" and the oceanic "Last Rose Of Summer" might fail in the hands of lesser singers, but Westenra does the songs proud and makes them her own. The latter is a stunning duet with Irish sweetheart Meav Ni Mhaolchatha, one of the original members of Celtic Woman. Ni Mhaolchatha's and Westenra's voices blend together beautifully. The album closes the same way it began, with a delicate Celtic ballad. Westenra layers her platinum plated pipes overtop a sparse arrangement of piano and strings, on the panoramic "Abide With Me."

Hayley Westenra is a remarkable young woman who not only sings like "an angel," but devotes her time to charitable causes as well. Celtic Treasures, like Westenra, is a true treasure indeed.